Pitch Perfect 2 Blu-ray Review

Reviewed by Lynn Barker on Aug 23, 2015

Rating:

Check out Kidzworld’s review of the new Blu-ray for the aca-fun movie about The Bellas, the girls that rock the a cappella singing world in Pitch Perfect 2.

By: Lynn Barker

In Pitch Perfect 2, The Barden Bellas a cappella group are big winners of multiple competitions but when Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) has a kinky wardrobe malfunction in front of the Pres. of the U.S., the girls are banned from competition on the collegiate level. The only contest they can enter is “Worlds” and a U. S. group has never won!

The Bellas at WorldsCourtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Story Goes

The multi-championship Barden Bellas are performing for President and Mrs. Obama at Kennedy Center when Fat Amy (Rebel Wilson) accidentally exposes her “down under” due to a wardrobe malfunction…on live T.V. The Bellas are banned from their national tour and from further competition on the college level.

Commentators are shocked at Fat Amy's wardrobe malfunctionCourtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Replacing the girls on tour are the snooty and overly-structured European champions, Das Sound Machine, a German group that makes Hitler look warm and fuzzy. Chloe (Brittany Snow) takes it the hardest while Beca (Anna Kendrick) has a new internship with a famous music producer and isn’t quite as sad. New freshman recruit bubbly songwriter Emily (Hailee Steinfeld) is a “legacy”. Her mom was a Bella back in the ‘80’s.

Das Sound Machine in concertCourtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment

The Bellas attempts to outdo Das Sound Machine at their own flashy game fail miserably so, to get their smooth harmony sound back, they go to a retreat run by former group leader Aubrey (Anna Camp) to build teamwork and it works. Beca’s boyfriend Jesse (Skylar Astin) remains her staunch supporter and the Treblemaker’s former leader Bumper (Adam DeVine) and Fat Amy intensify a relationship but she is skittish to commit. Cute and nervous Benji (Ben Platt) has it bad for Emily. Will the Bellas be able to beat the mighty Das Sound Machine at Worlds? What do you think?

Benji flirts with Emily (Hailee Steinfeld)Courtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Special Features

This Blu-ray/DVD set is jam-packed with tons of behind-the-scenes extras!

Bonus Song by the Treblemakers gives us a very fun song called “Locked Out of Heaven” that was cut from the movie. I like it better than the one they used! Fun.
Extended Musical Performance provides longer versions of songs by the Bellas and Das Sound Machine. There is a little more of the Bellas’ finale clap along number so dance and sing along.
Das Sound Machine Final Breakdown takes apart every section of their Worlds’ song dividing it into Vocals, Background Vocals, Beat Box and Lead Vocals. It’s quite cool to hear how the parts of a song come together.
Deleted/Extended/Alternate Scenes – These are all fun to see, especially Rebel Wilson’s funny lines. Worth a watch.

Amy crawls to BumperCourtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Gag Reel – Not as funny as it could be. Mostly the cast making faces and cracking up but at least the set has a gag reel!
Line Aca-Rama – kind of extends the gag reel in that we get various ad-libbed attempts at jokes from multiple cast members. Some are funnier than what ended up in the film. Well worth a watch for Rebel Wilson’s ad-libs alone.
Green Bay Rap gives us the footballers from the Green Bay Packers team rapping, beat-boxing and messing up. Pretty funny.
Elizabeth Banks Directorial Debut – It is very cool that this film is directed by actress Elizabeth Banks (Effie in The Hunger Games) who plays the raunchy commentator Gail in Pitch Perfect and this sequel. We are on set with her. The cast all loves her. We see rehearsals. She shows Rebel how to swing from a harness. You get lots of behind-the-scenes video that shows just how much hard work but also how much fun it was making this film.

Elizabeth Banks directs Hailee SteinfeldCourtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment

The Bellas are Back focuses on the Bellas rehearsing their dances on set and talking about what is different this time around. We see a boot camp style dance rehearsal and workout. Everyone talks about adding Hailee Steinfeld as Emily. The girls are at the Bella House talking about their roles. A fun extra.
In Aca-Camp we see the actors film scenes at Aubrey’s teamwork retreat. They talk about the mud pit and all the physical things they weren’t used to doing in films. It did actually bond them together.
The Making of the Riff-Off goes to the shoot for the party pitting the various a cappella groups against each other in on the spot musical challenges. There are funny ad libs. It’s a party you wish you could have attended.
The World Championships of A Cappella breaks down the shoot for the Bellas’ final competition. We learn this was shot outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana doubling for a field in Denmark! There were actual A Cappella groups in the scenes and like a thousand extras in the audience keeping up the energy all night.
Snoop Is In the House concentrates on the short scene in which Snoop Dogg records his Christmas album and Beca steps up to sing along and make it unique. A lot of fun.
Residual Heat Internship also features Beca being a small fish in a big pond as she tries to be a music producer. We see more ad libs as the scene is shot.
An Aca-Love Story: Bumper and Fat Amy is a great featurette showcasing comic actors Rebel Wilson and Adam DeVine as they ad-lib their heads off in the scene in which Army rows across a lake to declare her love for Bumper. The actors keep cracking up their director Elizabeth with their zany dialogue. Well worth a watch.

Amy (Rebel Wilson) and Bumper talk relationshipCourtesy of Universal Studios Home Entertainment

Legacy: Hailee Steinfeld features the actress joining the film. We see Elizabeth introducing her to the cast for the first time and she talks about feeling right at home etc. Great for Hailee fans.
Audio Commentary with Elizabeth Banks and Producers is fun with a mix of insider info and some tech.. “how we did that” info. Everything from theme to story to characters, subplots that were ditched etc. is covered. Worth a listen after you have seen the film through.

Wrapping Up

Throughout the film, a capella TV hosts John (John Michael Higgins) and Gail (Elizabeth Banks who also directs the movie) pop in with their very un-P.C. and usually hilarious commentaries. Some of the laughs are funnier than others but overall Pitch Perfect 2 is about great music and girl-power as the Bellas realize they’ve made friends for life as they graduate and move on.